Information for applicants
Post title: / Personal Assistant to the Senior Faculty Administrator and Secretarial Supervisor
Salary: / £23,002 - £27,466
Grade: / Secretarial and Clerical Grade 6
Post references: / 4587 / Closing date: / 22 May 2008
Start date: / Available immediately / Interview date: / 24 June 2008
Information included in this pack:
Section: / 1.0 / The post1.1 / Post details
1.2 / Job description
1.3 / Person specification
2.0 / Applying for the post
2.1 / How to apply
2.2 / Application information
3.0 / Information about the Faculty and the University
3.1 / Faculty of Arts
3.2 / The University
Section 1.0: THE POSTS
Section 1.1:Post details
Post title: / Personal Assistant to the Senior Faculty Administrator and Secretarial Supervisor
Reports to: / Staff Support Manager
Unit and/or team: / Faculty of Arts/Deanery
Salary details: / £23,002 - £27,466
Location: / Walton Hall, Milton Keynes
Working hours: / 37
Contract type: / Permanent
Section 1.2:Job description
Main duties
The person appointed to this post will undertake the following duties:
- Co-ordinate the various areas of activity within the Faculty which are the responsibility of the Senior Faculty Administrator involving close liaison with senior members of the Faculty, e.g. The Dean of Arts, Heads of Departments, Associate Deansand Administrators, Staff Support Manager etc. ensuring that action is taken and deadlines are met.
- Word process correspondence reports and documentation including material of a highly confidential, restricted, personal and sensitive nature e.g. financial and staffing issues, chair submissions, professorial remuneration, recommendations on promotions, incrementation and special awards, references, etc. Prepare agenda and related papers for Senior Management Team, and other groups for which the Senior Faculty Administrator provides administrative support.
- Open, log and sort all mail (including e-mail), check contents, extract routine matters for subsequent action and distribute when necessary to appropriate person/ department. Attach relevant papers to files before passing to the Senior Faculty Administrator.
- In absence of the Senior Faculty Administrator uses discretion and judgement in dealing with items needing immediate attention.
- Receive correspondence etc., from the Senior Faculty Administrator, takes any action required or pass on to notated person.
- Co-ordinate and maintain the Senior Faculty Administrator’s appointment diary, schedule meetings and appointments and ensures an even workload throughout the week.
- Operate a “bring forward” system of correspondence for forthcoming meetings and appointments.
- Organises arrangements, such as Head of Department, and Associate Dean Interviews co-ordinating diaries of all involved.
- Collect and prepare appropriate papers (many confidential) for the meetings of Boards and Committees on which the Senior Faculty Administrator serves.
- Prepare a weekly schedule of appointments for the Senior Faculty Administrator.
- Monitor, filter and obtain calls using initiative and discretion in dealing with enquiries from members of staff, students and external organisations.
- Have a wide range of contacts at all levels within the University and deal directly with the offices of the VC, Central Secretariat, University Secretary, PVCs, Deans and Directors, Director of Personnel, Regional Directors and other Senior Faculty Administrators. External contacts outside the University and abroad include other universities and educational institutions.
- Maintain an extensive filing system of private and confidential papers including promotions, disciplinary matters, CVs and appraisal and counselling papers for all members of academic and academic related staff. Open and close files as appropriate.
- Use shared Faculty database and spreadsheet systems. Updates information on behalf of the Staff Support Manager
- Supports the annual run of theTRAC workload system keeping hard-copy records for the Senior Faculty Administrator as required.
- Delegated authorising signatory from the Staff Support Manager for the Faculty consumables budget. Responsible for ordering stationery supplies checking monthly against the General Ledger records and producing forecasts for the Faculty accountant at the appropriate time..
Supervisory responsibilities
- To initiate, develop and implement new policies, systems and procedures for the Deanery staff in consultation with the Staff Support Manager.
- To be responsible for the organisation, co-ordination and monitoring of secretarial workloads to meet Faculty standards and deadlines.
- To bring personal initiative to bear to ensure a flexible style of working from the Deanery Secretarial staff.
- To be a member of short-listing and interview panels for the recruitment of Faculty secretarial and clerical staff.
- To be responsible for the induction and training of new members of secretarial staff in the Deanery area.
- To be responsible for ensuring that Deanery secretaries receive training in all aspects of their work and this training is kept up to date.
- To be responsible for the career counselling/appraisal of Deanery secretarial and clerical staff.
- To assist the Staff Support Manager in all aspects of Deanery, staffing and workload issues.
- To work collaboratively with other Senior Secretarial staff and the Staff Support Manager on all aspects of Faculty secretarial and clerical issues.
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Section 1.3:PERSON SPECIFICATIONEssential / Desirable
1Education/Qualificationse.g. academic, technical & professional education & training (e.g. apprenticeship, traineeship etc) / GCSE ‘C’ or equivalent to include English Language and Maths
RSA II/III or equivalent in typing/word processing
2Work & Other Relevant Experience (including
training) / Significant secretarial experience, some of which should have been at PA level.
Experience of supervising teams of 6 or more.
Experience of monitoring budgets
Attention to detail to a very high standard
A high level of competence in the use of Information Technology, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook – Diary’s, Task bar
Proven team working experience
Ability to prioritise own work and that of others
Proven ability to maintain good working practices
Proven experience of working with restricted and confidential material.
Excellent organisational, planning, prioritising skills
Excellent oral and written skills
Developing staff in teams and individually
Understanding of Equal Opportunities and Diversity in the workplace issues / Knowledge/experience of
Distance Teaching.
3Personal Qualities and Abilities
e.g. initiative, leadership,
ability to work on own or with
others. / Ability to motivate self and others
A very flexible approach to change and experience of managing change
Remain calm under pressure
Continuous development of own skills and competences
The use of initiative to provide workable solutions to work based problems
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Section 2.0: APPLYING FOR THE POSTSection 2.1:How to apply
Application procedure
The following guidelines are designed to help you submit a job application in line with our requirements.
- completed application form (long version)
a covering letter, in which you set out how you meet the person specification and what you can bring to this post (no more than two sides of A4 paper). Please ensure you provide relevant examples as evidence to support your statements. Applications without this covering letter will not be considered.
You are asked to complete all parts of the form, using additional sheets as necessary. If you attach a separate curriculum vitae, will you please ensure that you sign and date it so that we have confirmation that it is a truthful and accurate record of your qualifications and experience.You are welcome to enclose your up-to-date curriculum vitae, but CVs will not be accepted on their own. Please remove any information from your CV that might give an indication of your race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation, as these details are irrelevant to your application.
b) / Please send the above documents to:
The Recruitment Co-ordinator
Faculty of Arts
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes
MK7 6AA
to arrive bynoon onThursday 22 May 2008
If you wish to send your application electronically please e-mail: . Shortlisted candidates who have submitted an electronic application will be asked to bring with them to the interviews a signed hard copy of their application.
References
Tworeferees should be nominated. Please provide full contact details in the Referee section of the application form, stating any reservations you may have about our approaching them.
If you are shortlisted, your references will be taken up before the interview (unless you indicate otherwise in your application) and will be used by the panel in the selection process. Please note that a satisfactory employer’s reference must be provided before a formal offer of employment can be made. It would be helpful to warn your referees of the interview dates and the fact that, should you be shortlisted, we will be asking them to supply us with written references before your interview.
Internal applicants only - information about references
When completing the ‘Referees’ section of the application form please ensure you specify your Head of Unit as your ‘current employer’, as s/he is responsible for providing this reference or nominating an appropriate alternative referee.
Please be advised that the employing Unit is responsible for requesting references from your referees.
Section 2.2: Application informationEligibility: / Externaland Internal applicants
Closing date: / Noon on Thursday 22 May 2008
Pre-applications enquiries: / If you require further information about this post you can contact
Brenda Crouch on 01908 652528 email .
Shortlisting: / Shortlisting will be completed as soon as possible after the closing date.
Interviews: / Interviews will be held in Milton Keynes, on24 June 2008
Shortlisted applicants will be asked bring with them certificates for qualifications they have and to undertake a work-related test at interview, which will also form part of the selection process.
Disabled applicants: / The Open University welcomes applications from disabled people.
If you require any adjustments to enable you to attend the interview please ensure that you have either provided this information on your application form or contacted the Recruitment Coordinator to discuss your requirements.
If you are called for interview, please discuss any adjustments you may require to carry out the duties of the role with the interview panel so that the appropriate arrangements and any adjustments can be made if necessary.
(Under the Disability Discrimination Act, a disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out normal day to day activities).
Please let us know if you need your copy of the further particulars in large print, on computer disc or on audio cassette tape. Access details for disabled applicants are available from Donna Elstob +44 (0) 1908 653047.
Recruitment procedures: / The appointment process reflects the University’s and the Faculty of Art’s commitment to Equal Opportunities and the need to ensure these principles are reflected in all aspects of the appointment procedure.
If you have any comments or concerns about any stage of the recruitment process, please write to the HR Adviser, HR Division, who will look into the matter.
Proof of Eligibility to Work in the UK / Candidates will be required to provide proof of their eligibility to work in the UK by producing verifiable documents. Details of the required documents will be sent to the successful candidate at the written offer of employment stage. If you require a work permit this will be applied for should your application for appointment be successful. To find out what visas and permits you may require in order to work in the UK please see or telephone 0845 010 5555, the general enquiries line is open from 09.30 to 13.30, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.
Retirement Age / The Open University operates a normal retirement age of 65. It is normal policy to only accept applications from new applicants up to the age of 64 years and 6 months, provided that the applicant would be under the age of 65 when they commence work for the University. This is in line with the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006.
Section 3.0: FACULTY AND UNIVERSITY INFORMATION
Section 3.1:The Faculty of Arts
The Faculty of Arts consists of about ninety academic staff, 25 of whom are based in our 13 Regional Offices, about 30 academic-related staff, i.e. administrators, course managers, project officers and 30 secretarial staff. The secretarial staff provides secretarial support to staff responsible for the production, presentation and maintenance of some fifty undergraduate and postgraduate courses covering a wide range of arts subjects.
The Faculty is organised into seven departments: art history, classical studies, history, English, music, philosophy and religious studies. In addition, there is a courses unit where all course material used by our students is produced, and the Deanery which is the administrative area of the Faculty. Our secretarial staff have a range of duties which, depending on the area of work, would include producing minutes, books, research material, course material and examination papers, arranging conferences and meetings and organising travel.
You may be working in an academic area but you don’t need a degree to join us. Staff join us for many reasons; having an interest in the Arts, our excellent working conditions, our staff training and development opportunities, and the fact that having joined The Open University many people stay for rewarding careers.
Section 3.2: THE UNIVERSITYThe Open University transforms lives through education. It has become by far the largest university in the UK, now teaching well over 200,000 people every year. We have expanded our activities throughout Europe and our highly rated teaching materials are used by other institutions in many parts of the world. We are consistently achieving high rankings both in research and teaching quality assessments.
Teaching is through the provision of specially designed, high quality, materials encompassing traditional print texts, television, video, CD-ROM, internet and electronic conferencing together with first class personalised tuition, learning feedback and support.
The success of the Open University is due to our outstanding staff. There are around 4,500 staff plus over 7,000 Associate Lecturers. Staff and potential staff are treated solely on the basis of their merits, abilities and potential, regardless of gender, colour, ethnic or national origin, age, socio-economic background, disability, religious or political beliefs, family circumstances, sexual orientation or other irrelevant distinction.
We are also committed to the development of our staff to their full potential through lifelong learning, offering a range of formal and informal training and development activities to ensure that staff are able to perform their jobs to the best of their abilities and to help meet individual and University objectives. Our objective is that all staff undertake a minimum of 5 days development activity in each year.
For more information see our website:
Section 3.3: BENEFITS AND FACILITIESBENEFITS AND FACILITIES
This sheet provides a flavour of staff benefits and facilities. Full details will be available when you join us.
STAFF DEVELOPMENT
We have a strong commitment to providing training and development in and beyond your current role. This includes thorough induction into the organisation and regular reviews of your training and development needs. The objective is that all staff should undertake at least five days’ development activity in each year – this may include attendance at formal courses or other learning e.g. use of self-study material. We invest substantial time and money in our staff development provisions and we waive fees for staff wishing to study our own courses.
LEAVE
The annual leave entitlement is 30 days (33 days for academic, academic related or research staff) in addition to all bank and other public holidays and an additional 3 days at Christmas when the University is closed.
PENSION SCHEMES
Staff have the option of contributing to a Final Salary pension scheme and the University contributes around 14% of salary. Full details will be sent with any offer of employment but any preliminary enquiries should be addressed to the Pensions Section, Human Resources (01908) 652431 or 652957.
RELOCATION EXPENSES
Staff are normally expected to live within a reasonable travelling distance of their place of work. The University will make a grant for expenses necessarily incurred for removals and disturbance, within certain rules and subject to a maximum payment. Full details will be sent with any offer of employment. The removal grant does not apply on appointments of less than two years duration.
FAMILY FRIENDLY POLICIES
- Staff are entitled to 52 weeks maternity/adoption leave. Statutory maternity/adoption pay will be paid for a maximum period of the first 39 weeks, made up to full pay for the first 18 weeks, subject to minimum service conditions. Staff have the right to return to work at any time within 52 weeks of the maternity leave start date, again subject to certain conditions.
- Staff are entitled to a maximum of 10 days paid paternity leave in connection with their wife’s/partner’s confinement in any one leave year in addition to normal leave entitlement, again subject to certain conditions.
- Pre-School Childcare Subsidy; we have a means-tested childcare subsidy scheme. Those eligible are provided with a Childcare Voucher that can be used as part payment for the care of children under 5 years of age. For further information about the scheme contact Human Resources on (01908) 655050.
- Childcare Vouchers; we have introduced a salary sacrifice scheme to enable staff to take advantage of tax and NI exemption on up to £243 of childcare vouchers per month. The scheme is managed by Busy Bees. Further information will be provided on appointment.
MILTON KEYNES BASED STAFF
- Nurseries: The Mulberry Bear Day Nursery & Pre-School is a purpose-built nursery on the Walton Hall campus. It is an independent charity supported by The Open University and managed by parents. OU staff applications are given priority but there may be a waiting list in some age groups. For further information, please telephone Milton Keynes (01908) 653867, email or see their website at
- There are a number of other private nurseries in the Milton Keynes area.
FACILITIES